An unforgettable still life of vintage wheel parts is rendered in glossy full color with a gold embossed border, surrounded by a band of flat black, on 100lb archival paper. Across the bottom is a list of participants in red. Dimensions are 26" x 20". They have been perfectly stored for 30 years, remnants of a very limited print run.
It makes a stunning presence—a warm, timeless image to enrich any setting. Handle it only with clean hands or gloves to prevent fingerprinting the flat black border prior to framing.
The Story
While shooting products for Specialized in the early years, photographer Jack Christansen was intrigued with the old wheel paraphernalia at our shop in Palo Alto. The result was an un-commissioned still life with great preparation. Jack spent days pushing pieces around, adding, subtracting, calculating. Finally, he was content with the shot. The image was printed as a portfolio/promotional poster in the 1970‘s for a number of Bay Area graphic specialists. This team of color separators, printers, embossers, art directors, etc. combined to make a limited run on archival paper—the sort of project that makes possible an unsupportable level of quality.
Now, a small number of these are available. The poster depicts a still life of vintage objects, particularly related to wheel building. The scene is populated by items from the former Wheelsmith bike shop in Palo Alto, many of which we still have. Several wood rims are present—the one with a tire is a Lobdell-Emery from Michigan, the others are by Ghisallo from Italy. One near the top is small made for an early Dahon folding bike. The hubs are Specialized, as designed by myself and brother Jon. The spokes are early Wheelsmith brand. The brass tire gauge is from Gary Fisher. The headline "End-To-End Record Broken" is an 1890 newspaper referring to the Lands End to John O'Groats (tip to tip of Great Britain) cycling record. The background is barn wood, salvaged redwood.
